For the first time in a long while, Neria Palace, where Empress Iyette resided, was filled with life.
“Ah, Lady Beatrice! I have been waiting for you. Was the journey here difficult?”
“It’s been a while, Lady Kaya! All I did was sit in a carriage, so what’s there to be hard! I’m full of energy.”
“Fufu. You are bright and lively as always. Please wait a moment. I shall inform Her Majesty the Empress right away.”
“Oh, you don’t have to go that far. She knows I’m coming today, doesn’t she?”
“Of course. She has been counting the days until your arrival. Even now, she is choosing refreshments in the drawing room.”
Then that settles it!
Beatrice signaled to the Head Maid with a wave of her hand that she was fine.
Then, she swung the drawing room door wide open as if entering her parents’ room in her family home, beaming brightly.
“Iyette!”
Had Count Hartwell seen this, she would have certainly received a slap on the back.
Not only had she ignored Imperial etiquette, but she had also skipped the formal title and called Her Majesty the Empress by her name without permission!
In fact, strictly speaking, it was an act for which one could be punished under Imperial law, but it was fine.
Because Beatrice was the youngest child with two older brothers.
She knew exactly how much people would tolerate her behavior.
“Beatrice? My goodness, if I had known you would arrive so early, I would have prepared a bit faster…!”
Look. Instead of a scolding, the Empress welcomed her with open arms and a delighted face.
Beatrice gave her a tight hug and acted like a spoiled, affectionate child—a rare sight for others.
“I came quickly because I missed you, Iyette!”
“Oh my, look at you!”
“I’m serious. My hair is all disheveled like this because I was practically running to get here, you see?”
“Yes, yes, I understand. You must be tired from running, so let’s sit down.”
“Okay! I want to sit right next to you, Iyette.”
Had the Countess of Hartwell, Beatrice’s mother, or Clyde seen this, they would have rubbed their eyes, wondering who this person was.
Of course, the Empress, who didn’t see her every day, would never know.
Beatrice spoke warmly to the Empress, who was brewing the tea herself, then lightly clapped her hands as if she had remembered something.
“Ah, that’s right! I brought a gift for you, Iyette.”
“A gift? For me?”
“Yes. It’s a bit embarrassing since it’s not particularly rare or expensive…”
Placing the box she received from her maid onto the table, she opened the lid with an awkward smile.
What came out of the box was a ‘Niton flower,’ characterized by petals that looked like fluffy yarn.
To be precise, it was a flower box beautifully decorated with these Niton flowers and cute ornaments.
“This is…”
As Beatrice had said, it was a modest gift, but Empress Iyette stroked the flowers with a touch full of affection.
The ‘Niton flower’ was a bloom that could only be found in her homeland, the Beretta Kingdom, and above all, it was her favorite flower.
“It has been so long since I’ve seen a Niton flower. How did you know I liked this flower…”
“I subtly found out from Dad. He said it blooms fluffily only if it holds an abundance of mana, so I worked pretty hard in my own way.”
“It is truly beautiful. I am glad that you are already able to handle mana so well, Bea.”
“Um…”
She hadn’t exactly poured mana into it herself; she had just changed the layout of the greenhouse so that more natural mana would accumulate…….
Beatrice briefly debated whether to tell the truth, then chose to remain silent.
The homeland of Empress Iyette and her father, Jedaric, was the ‘Beretta Kingdom,’ known as a magic kingdom.
Empress Iyette had been an elite who was considered a genius mage even there.
‘If I tell her I changed the greenhouse layout, she’ll ask why I did something so troublesome….’
When she roughly brushed off an answer with a bright smile, the Empress chuckled softly and continued in a playful tone.
“If you have this level of skill, it won’t be long before you can help me with my work alongside your father, will it?”
Ah, this, could it be!
Beatrice, seizing the opportunity, naturally took over her words.
“Do you mean the ‘Fusion Treatment System’ that combines magic therapy and general medicine? I heard it’s recently started as a pilot program.”
“Oh my, did you hear about that from Jedaric as well? That’s right, it was a proposal I personally put together.”
The Empress began to rattle off details about the ‘Fusion Treatment System’ with a fairly joyful expression.
“Since healing magic shares many common factors with holy magic, it’s easier for Imperial citizens who aren’t familiar with magic to accept. Furthermore…”
“Mmh.”
The way she started explaining even without being asked was just like her father, so it was familiar.
Whether alchemists or mages, it seemed those from the magic kingdom all shared similar traits.
‘But I’m glad I can see it this time.’
In the past, she hadn’t known how to pay attention to such matters. Even though it involved people she held much affection for and who were close to her.
‘And by the time I came to my senses, it was already over.’
It was the same for this project of Empress Iyette.
‘Because Her Majesty’s Fusion Treatment System was eventually scrapped at the pilot stage.’
The reason was all too clear. It was because the daughter of Count Sharon eventually died during the pilot phase.
‘That incident affected more things than I thought…. Well, I suppose that’s not what’s important now.’
Preventing the failure of this Fusion Treatment System was the ‘first step to obtaining a title’ that Beatrice had come up with.
‘Originally, that is, before personal motives got mixed in because of Clyde, this was what I had aimed for too.’
Well, right now, she was more concerned about the marquisate side than this.
It was just as Beatrice was thinking this and that. With a light sigh, the Empress uttered words that were close to a monologue.
“Above all… no matter how much I think about it lately, it seems the proportion of patients suffering from illnesses of unknown causes is increasing. It feels like there’s a reason for it rather than it just being my imagination, so I wanted to prepare in advance.”
“Pardon?”
“Ah, it’s nothing. That wasn’t meant for you, Beatrice, I was just talking to myself. I am sorry, please pay it no mind.”
The Empress lightly shook her head and offered Beatrice some refreshments, but there was no way Beatrice could let those words pass.
‘Patients with illnesses of unknown causes….’
At that moment, something flashed in her mind.
‘What if those patients of unknown causes are all suffering from the same disease, and the cause just hasn’t been found yet?’
And what if the daughter of Count Sharon, who was said to have died before the regression, was also one of those ‘patients of unknown causes’?
‘Didn’t she just describe creating the Fusion Treatment System as a sort of countermeasure?’
If so, the hypothesis she just formed was highly likely to be correct.
‘And since it’s an illness of unknown cause, it would have been easy for the Princess to interfere.’
Looking back, the claim made by high society and the newsletters—that ‘a fatal mistake by a team member was the cause of death’—didn’t make sense.
A mage as skilled as the Empress wouldn’t have just stood by and let that happen.
‘…Looking at it all laid out like this, the illness itself is very suspicious. It’s almost like a curse.’
Wait, a curse…?
Something flashed again in Beatrice’s mind as she recalled her conversation with Clyde.
She had a hunch. A hunch that there was some connection between the ‘Cursed Downer Marquisate’ and this ‘illness of unknown cause’!
‘Because currently, that is the only place in the Empire that is the most suspicious, and the only place where the Princess is suspected of interfering.’
She felt as if a light had been switched on before her eyes.
‘At this point, destiny is practically leading me to go to the Downer Marquisate.’
What could she do? She had noticed such an important link.
Beatrice, after a moment of deliberation, raised her hand high and asked Empress Iyette.
“Um, Iyette! Have you ever heard stories about the Cursed Downer Marquisate?”
“The Downer Marquisate?”
“Yes. They say ominous rumors are circulating about that place. What was it—that people are disappearing or dying, and ghost-possessed dolls are increasing?”
Of course, at this point in time, rumors that the Marquisate was cursed had not yet spread.
However, Beatrice decided to shamelessly mix in some fabrication. For a brighter and happier future!
“I was completely unaware of it too, but I found out while looking into it after hearing that Clyde and His Highness Crowell’s dispatch location was the Downer Marquisate.”
“It is certainly a suspicious rumor.”
“Yes. But listening to your words just now, Iyette, I was reminded of that story again. If it’s a place where so many inexplicable phenomena are occurring, wouldn’t an unknown illness be spreading there as well?”
“…Hmm.”
“Somehow, I have a hunch that a clue might be there.”
“That is a valid point. Bea, are you interested in such explorations or investigations?”
At the Empress’s question, Beatrice nodded and replied.
“Of course! In fact, as soon as I heard the story of the curse, I thought it was related to magic and wanted to follow them, but I was rejected.”
“Hmm? Usually, this kind of dispatch is a long-term mission, so they sometimes take family along. Why?”
“He said I couldn’t go because it’s dangerous.”
“My goodness!”
The Empress laughed like a young girl, saying that was a cuter reason than she had expected, then subtly put on a playful expression.
“Bea, do you still want to go?”
Shall I help you?
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